106 - Mosquito Attack - Vocabulary

We recently decided to get away for a few days. After checking out various accommodation options, we booked ourselves into a cosy little bungalow with a picturesque tropical garden in Les Avirons.

We had heard just before making the reservation that there had been a couple of reports of dengue fever around Vincendo and so we decided not to head south on holiday, as we often do. You see, my partner caught dengue fever when he was a teenager, travelling in Thailand with his folks. And that is certainly not an experience he would like to repeat!

So off we finally went on holiday. I was really looking forward to a break from the city and to being surrounded by greenery and some lush vegetation. Being enveloped in nature has such a calming effect on the soul, don’t you find?

Well yes, normally! But I can tell you that it certainly isn’t very calming, not when you’re experiencing it in a cloud of mosquitoes! Now, we spend a fair amount of time outdoors and have often been on little city breaks here in Reunion but we have never seen so many mosquitoes, ever! I’m talking about thousands of them, everywhere....

We were in such a state of shock when we first arrived that afternoon that we closed ourselves into the bungalow with all the doors and windows firmly shut. There, we peacefully enjoyed the complementary welcome punch that was waiting for us on arrival.

With some careful manoeuvring we managed to keep most of our bloodthirsty little friends outside. After strategically laying out and lighting some mosquito coils, we eventually dared to venture outside. Equipped with long pants and smeared full of mosquito repellent, we made it through our first evening there.

The endless smoke from the coils during our holiday seemed to have more of an effect on us though. Those mosquitoes just dive-bombed through it to get to our juicy legs. And the whole saga started first thing in the morning at breakfast time already! We certainly weren’t the only hungry ones around.

Heading down to the beach gave us a much needed break from those pesky mozzies. With my hat on my head, my camera around my neck, and my legs full of mosquito bites, I really did look like a tourist fresh off the plane! Luckily there is no malaria on this beautiful island and hopefully the reports of dengue fever and Chikungunia will remain few so that we can venture off and enjoy some more crazy holidays like this one in Les Avirons.